There has always been the need in industries such as for example, the automotive, oil and mining industries to clean mechanical parts covered with grease and grime. For example, when servicing or repairing an internal combustion engine, components such as nuts, bolts, washers, seals, bearings, engine blocks, crank shafts etc., must be thoroughly cleaned prior to reassembly in order to remove all oil, grease and foreign bodies. Foreign bodies such as grit or metal shavings can block cooling or lubrication ducts as well as increase engine wear. Various parts for example, brake shoes or pads and rubber seals must be free of grease or oil to ensure correct operation or prevent premature deterioration.
A "solvent sink" is presently used to clean mechanical parts comprising a large sink and pump for pumping a petroleum based solvent from a separate drum to a dispensing hand piece. The article to be cleaned is held in or above the sink and solvent is pumped from the drum through the hand piece in order to clean the part. While the solvent sink is relatively effective in cleaning, it has a number of inherent deficiencies. It is particularly inefficient as it requires an operator to stand at the sink and manually clean even the smallest of parts. In addition, it is unable to effectively and efficiently clean parts which are too large to fit within the sink. For this reason, it is common to purchase a separate steam cleaning apparatus to clean the "larger" parts. Furthermore, the use of petroleum based solvents creates a fire hazard, is a health hazard to the operator by virtue of vapours given off by the solvent, and is environmentally damaging by virtue of either damaging the earth's ozone layer or contaminating water supplies.